FA Cup Magic, Egypt Riots, Messi For Four, Jurgen the Chopper Pilot, Kuper on Wenger

Oldham Athletic players celebrate their win over Liverpool

We told you. The magic, the intrigue, the upsets, the minnows, the "classic Cup ties". Well, it followed the script this weekend as there were upsets aplenty and nail-biters galore. Oldham Athletic over Liverpool. Luton Town over Norwich. Leeds over Tottenham. MK Dons over QPR. Millwall over Aston Villa (that might not really count as an upset...). Brentford Town almost over Chelsea.

We'll begin with Phil McNulty's piece. Phil says this: The FA Cup always works best when it is not a battle of equals and the odds are stretched - and so it proved on a weekend when the great old competition answered back to its detractors. Yes!!

You want talking points? Of course you do. Here are 10.

You want some specifics? How about Michael Cox talking some tactics in regards to Leeds vs. Tottenham? What exactly happened between Brentford and Chelsea? Henry Winter was there. Just how did Liverpool lose to Oldham Athletic? Andy Hunter was at Boundry Park.

How about a Team of the Week? Boo Yah! All of that leaves us with this: The Fifth Round Draw


Moving on, Jurgen Klinsmann flies a helicopter. Who knew?

Sadly, in Egypt, the fallout from last year's riots at the El Masry vs. Al Ahly match has resulted in yet more deaths. The sentencing of those involved in the horrific scenes from last February prompted more unrest with another 30 reported dead. We'll just stick with The New York Times for this story.

Lionel Messi scored four goals. Cristiano Ronaldo scored three. Here's a wrap of the weekend action in La Liga. The two meet Weds. in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi. Excellent...

In Italy, leaders Juventus drew, Napoli notched a late win, Roma and Bologna hit for six, and AC Milan edged Atalanta. Here's your wrap. And here's your table.

The Bundesliga winter hibernation is over in Germany, but let's wait until we check in with Honigstein tomorrow to see what's up.

You know the Soccernomics dude? Simon Kuper? Right, so he's got a piece in the Financial Times about Arsenal. Here's his question: Has football’s economist got it wrong when it comes to the game’s finances?

And that's your Monday. Have at it.

Onward!!

-SSN